The award was first made of Fairmined gold in 2015

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10 in Oslo, Norway, and the prize was particularly special because it was created with Fairmined gold from two Colombian artisanal and small-scale mining organizations.

The Mint of Norway, which has produced the medals since 1901, partnered with the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), developer of the Fairmined Certification, to create the medal.

“The initiative and collaboration with ARM is more than just the Peace Prize medal or our own business,” said Ole Bjørn Fausa, the CEO of Norwegian coin distributor Samlerhuset, which owns the Mint of Norway, in a statement. “We want a harder look to be taken at what gold is used by the coin and medal industry and encourage more and more players to make use of Fairmined certified gold from small mines. In this way, the working conditions can gradually be improved for the miners and the environment can be properly managed.”

The two Colombian mining groups that provided the gold are the Coodmilla Cooperative and the Cooperativa Agrominera de Íquira, the latter of which also provided the gold for the prize in 2015, the first year the Mint of Norway used Fairmined gold to produce the medal.

“We are very happy that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is made of our Fairmined certified gold,” said Harbi Guerrero, artisanal miner and member of the Coodmilla Cooperative, in a statement. “It is a recognition of the hard but decent work we are doing in traditional and community mining to assure our family’s livelihoods and the development of our communities. Every day we endanger our lives in the depths of the mountains, furthermore it is a challenge to live in a conflict country—we, the miners, are longing for peace.”